Jujutsu Kaisen has become the most popular manga of 2021 leaving Demon Slayer behind during the 2021 Oricon fiscal year.
We looked up the Oricon charts to find out what has been some of the most popular and best-selling manga series in Japan during this fiscal year so far. And the result is pretty much as you would expect with a few surprises here and there. But the numbers have continued to see an insane rise for the second year in a row with three manga series breaking past 20 million copies this year.
Ever since the manga industry got the Demon Slayer-sized boost, there has been a surge in binge-reading manga with standout series selling millions of copies at once. Jujutsu Kaisen and Tokyo Revengers continue the tradition as Jujutsu Kaisen takes the top spot as the most popular manga of 2021 with more than 28.78 million copies sold till September during this year of Oricon.
The first season of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime concluded in March and that was also the manga’s best month where it sold 6.33 million copies.
Demon Slayer, which sold a record-breaking 82 million copies the last Oricon year, is currently at the second spot selling 28.2 million copies so far. The series sold 6 million copies in January alone.
Demon Slayer is also very likely to take the first spot with the broadcast of the anime’s second season slated to start this week. All volumes of Demon Slayer have already re-entered the Oricon Weekly Top 50 after the first TV broadcast of Mugen Train aired on September 25.
READ MORE: Demon Slayer: Mugen Train’s First Japanese Broadcast Brings More than 11 Million Households
Tokyo Revengers, which had sold 5 million copies at the end of May according to Oricon’s half-year chart, has skyrocketed even more in sales with the massive anime boost it got after the anime’s premiere in April. The series has taken the third spot selling more than 22.24 million copies.
Meanwhile, Attack on Titan is the fourth most popular manga of the year selling 7.15 million copies with the release of its final two volumes this year and the help of a massive anime boost which made sure it surpassed last year’s total already in the first four months of this year alone.
The fifth place is held by beloved veteran series, One Piece, which at this point is not really a surprise but has just managed to be so consistent year after year and volume after volume. The One Piece manga series has sold around 6.66 million copies so far this year.
My Hero Academia is also having a splendid run right now as the manga’s 31st volume set a new record for the manga’s best initial sales within the first four weeks. And with the franchise’s third movie, My Hero Academia: World Heroes Mission, already being its highest-grossing movie prior to its western release.
My Hero Academia placed sixth with 5.78 million copies sold. Volume 32 is out this week in Japan.
In seventh place is the Chainsaw Man manga series which will be getting its anime adaptation by MAPPA sometime next year, the series is the first manga in the list which doesn’t have an anime adaptation yet. Chainsaw Man has sold a massive 5.005 million copies during this fiscal year so far.
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Spy x Family has taken the eighth spot and is another manga series in the Top 10 which doesn’t have an anime adaptation. In fact, an anime adaptation even if it is eventual has not even been announced for Spy x Family. The series has sold close to 4.1 million copies this year.
Kingdom misses the eighth spot by a very narrow margin and holds the ninth place for the most popular manga of the year with 4.08 million copies sold so far.
The final entry in the Top 10 is the beloved sports shonen Haikyuu!!, the series which concluded its run on July 2020 (the last chapter was released on the same day as Toruu Oikawa’s birthday) has sold 4.06 million copies in just backlogs. The fourth season of the anime aired its final episode last December.
Kaiju No. 8, which set the record for the biggest debut volume of all time with the release of its first volume last year, took the 11th spot selling about 3.485 million copies. The manga recently won first place at the Next Manga Awards 2021 (Digital Category).
The winner for the Print Category in the Next Manga Awards, Sousou no Frieren, took the 18th spot and has sold around 2.26 million copies this year.
The 12th and 13th place have been occupied by two beloved Shonen Jump series The Promised Neverland and Dr. Stone respectively. Both aired the second season of their respective anime this year as well.
Although while Dr. Stone Season 2 was praised by both the fans and the critics alike, The Promised Neverland was heavily criticized by the same. Rightfully so, as The Promised Neverland pulled off its very own Tokyo Ghoul √A. But despite that, the manga sold over 3.45 million copies this fiscal year.
Dr. Stone has sold around 3.06 million copies this year so far.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is the first entry in this list which has a manga based on a light novel. The manga series took 14th place and sold over 2.9 million copies. The second season of the anime has just finished airing and a sequel movie is planned for next year.
And despite its lackluster and rushed anime adaptation, Record of Ragnarok was the 15th most popular manga series of 2021 and sold over 2.8 million copies.
Jump SQ’s World Trigger was 19th on the list and sold around 2.1 million copies. The second season of the anime premiered during the Winter 2021 anime season and the third season is slated to start this month.
Kemono Jihen, which finally got its anime adaptation this year was in the 23rd spot selling 1.85 million copies while Fire Force was the only other ongoing serialization besides Tokyo Revengers from Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine to make it onto the Top 25.
Fire Force is currently the 24th most popular manga of the year and has sold over 1.84 million copies during this fiscal year. You can check out the full list below.
Top 25 Best-Selling Manga Series of 2021 (As of September 30):
- Jujutsu Kaisen- 28,784,870
- Demon Slayer- 28,204,595
- Tokyo Revengers- 22,242,981
- Attack on Titan~ 7,150,000
- One Piece~ 6,665,000
- My Hero Academia- 5,783,665
- Chainsaw Man~ 5,005,000
- Spy x Family~ 4,105,000
- Kingdom~ 4,085,000
- Haikyuu- 4,063,974
- Kaiju No. 8~ 3,485,000
- The Promised Neverland~ 3,450,000
- Dr. Stone~ 3,060,000
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime~ 2,930,000
- Record of Ragnarok~ 2,860,000
- Demon Slayer: Gaiden~ 2,340,000
- Mystery to Iu Nakare~ 2,285,000
- Sousou no Frieren~ 2,260,000
- World Trigger~ 2,110,000
- The Apothecary Diaries~ 1,880,000
- The Quintessential Quintuplets~ 1,880,000
- Jujutsu Kaisen Volume 0~ 1,860,000
- Kemono Jihen~ 1,850,000
- Fire Force~ 1,840,000
- Honey Lemon Soda~ 1,800,000.
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What do you think of this year’s highest-selling manga series so far? Did any of your favorites make the cut? Comment below and let us know.
Source: Oricon Charts, WSJ Oricon.